Inspector George Gently 'to end with a flourish' after filming completes in North East

Ross Robertson

Inspector George Gently fans are set to see a satisfying ending for the series' characters when it bows out after a decade on screen, cast and crew have promised.

The long-running BBC period detective series is drawing to a close with two feature-length episodes that will wrap up the stories associated with its main characters George Gently, John Bacchus and Rachel Coles.

It will see the police team investigate a miscarriage of justice and police corruption as well as returning to the theme of the first-ever episode, which saw Inspector Gently trying to track the murderer of his wife Isabella.

Martin Shaw, who plays Gently, said: "I can't speak for whether the audience will be happy with our ending or not, but there will be a conclusion.

"It's very nice to know that something has definitively ended.

"I think the audience deserves to have a proper ending, like a flourish at the end of a symphony."

Executive producer Claire Ingham said: "When we started talking about ideas for the final series of Inspector George Gently, our ambition was simple: to create a piece of TV history that would be truly memorable and get people talking."

She added that the last two episodes "will hopefully leave the audience emotionally satisfied that we've made our characters face all their hopes and fears".

Ingham said: "As Martin Shaw called our final cut with 'It's a wrap', it genuinely felt like a true moment of TV history."

The series, created by Peter Flannery and based on the Alan Hunter novels, also stars Lee Ingleby as Bacchus and Lisa McGrillis as Coles.

It followed the trio of investigators on varied cases around Durham and the North East during the 1960s, leading up to the final instalments, which are set in 1970 and will complete a set of 25 episodes that first aired in 2007.

The final series of Inspector George Gently airs on BBC One later this month.